Celebrini, Sharks face McDavid, Oilers with playoffs in sight

EDMONTON - - Macklin Celebrini and Connor McDavid played on the same line for Team Canada at 2026 Winter Olympics. 

Now they are competing against each other with a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in mind. 

Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks are one point out of a playoff spot, with a key game against McDavid and the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, SNW, NBCSCA).

"This is fun," Celebrini said. "This is our first time through it and a lot of us are excited to be in this spot and go through it for the first time. We’re grateful, but want to keep pushing here."

Not only are the Sharks (32-27-6) one point behind the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, they are just five points behind the Oilers (33-26-9) for third in the Pacific Division.

San Jose has not qualified for the playoffs since 2019 and Celebrini, 19, is the core piece of a young, rebuilding team. He leads San Jose, and is fifth in the NHL, with 95 points (35 goals, 60 assists) in 65 games. 

"I don't think anyone thought we would be in this spot," Celebrini said. "We kind of believed it all year we had the guys in the room to do it, and we just need to keep it going. We're really close and we've played some good hockey over the last little stretch but have to limit those games like Ottawa (7-4 loss at the Senators on Sunday) and Buffalo (6-3 loss at the Sabres on Tuesday)."

Celebrini showed what a force he can be at the Olympics. He played on Canada's top line alongside McDavid for the majority of the tournament. 

Canada lost 2-1 in overtime to the United States in the gold medal game. 

"It's super cool, I got to play on his line, and you have to get to know your linemates pretty well," Celebrini said. "I got to know him really well over the short stint in Milan and playing with each other and talking with each other, we got pretty close. 

"I think he's a great person, you don't see that on TV or watching him play. Everyone knows the kind of player he is, but he's awesome to be around, fun to talk with and have conversation with."

McDavid said the feeling was mutual.

"He's a great player and when you get to know him, he's a great kid and he just does everything right," McDavid said. "I really, really enjoyed my time playing with him and getting to know him."

San Jose is 5-3-2 since the Olympic break. The Sharks have three games in hand on the Oilers, who announced on Tuesday that star forward Leon Draisaitl is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury. 

"A lot of teams are in the mix," Celebrini said. "I think a lot of the standings is up for grabs. We play a lot of division opponents coming up here and all of these games are important. They're all going to be important to win and get points in."

San Jose is coming out the other side of a complete rebuild and has changed its mindset as the season has gone on.  

"That's probably the biggest thing we transitioned in our season," coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "We've gone from having a chance to now going into games with the expectation to win them and to also carry the play and carry the momentum for longer stretches. I think we've done a really good job of that since the beginning of the year and it's probably where we have grown the most."

Though the Sharks have an eye on a playoff spot, the journey to this point has been a valuable experience for a young roster. 

San Jose is hoping as Celebrini continues to develop as a star forward, it will become a Stanley Cup contender. 

"It's super important to go through this and what we're going through and the ups and downs of hockey at this time of year," Warsofsky said. "It's important to learn from it and learn lessons as we go and also not take it for granted. 

"You don't know when you're going to be in this position again. Sometimes it takes years, obviously you hope that it's not. You learn a lesson the other night in Ottawa on a back-to-back and tough travel and that situation, you really have to get ready and grind one out and get some points. We didn't do it and hopefully we learned our lesson, but it's very valuable for our team to go through this for sure."

Last season, the Sharks finished last in the NHL standings, 44 points out of the final playoff spot in the West. They were just playing out the string at this time a year ago. 

"This is super-exciting, it's definitely different than last year when we were kind of out of the race at this point," forward Will Smith said. "So being able to be in it, it's a lot more fun. It's definitely growing every year. This only my second year and being able to be in this type of playoff race is definitely a big step from last year."